The Installation Service of the Rev. Amanda Nesvold as Pastor

of Trinity Lutheran Church in Castleton

and St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church in East Schodack

Isaiah 42: 5-9

Romans 12: 4-8

John 10: 7-18

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

 

How many of you have been in a corn maze?  They are pretty popular for orchards in the fall. Maybe you’ve been through one at Goolds Orchards.  I know there is one at Samascott’s in my neck of the woods.  They can be a lot of fun, unless you get to the center and discover that you are completely lost and can’t find your way out.

Allegories can be great tools for illustrating a point, but they can also get you in a lot of trouble when taken to the extreme, beyond their intention, like getting lost in a corn maze.  For this sermon I would like to invite us all to get lost in the allegories of the lessons Pastor Amanda has chosen with the hope (I mean, with the promise) that I will lead you out of their confusion.

 

Allegory #1:  The Suffering Servant

 

The prophet Isaiah speaks the Word of the Lord to one who has been called, chosen and anointed by God to usher in the reign of God upon the earth.  It will be effected by dramatic change, by actual reversals of all that seems commonplace and natural.  It will mean miraculously opening the eyes of the blind and victoriously unlocking the cell bars of prisoners.  It will mean changing the world with new ideas and new ways of doing things.

But you may not win a popularity contest by doing all that.  That’s OK because, as a servant of God, you are called to suffer.

So Pastor Amanda has full permission to change everything you are used to and everything that holds meaning for you because the past is past and the new day with its new ways are upon us.  She can bind the eyes of those who think they can see and open up the eyes of those who had been blind before.

And you, people of Trinity and St. Stephen’s, can place all your personal expectations upon her.  If she just does everything your way, she will single-handedly turn things around and the pews will be filled and the bank accounts full.  And if she doesn’t, then make her suffer.  Here you go; insist that she visit every member on the books during her first two weeks using a car that can only hold 15 miles worth of gas every time she fills it up.  Or surprise her with a basement full of water every time she takes a shower.

Well, I think we’ve gotten lost enough in that maze of an allegory.

 

Allegory #2:  The Gate, I mean the Good Shepherd.

 

It seems like Jesus gets confused in the middle of his own illustration.  First he says, “I am the Gate which lets sheep in for protection and out for green pastures.”  But then he changes it to “I am the Good Shepherd.”  Now I was taught to picture this as a sheepfold out in the wild when a cut out mountain, a wall of rock, may serve as one side of an enclosure and natural trees, rocks and logs serve as another and the sides meet at an opening for entering and exiting where at night the shepherd actually lies down to sleep, exposing himself to the danger of predatory animals.  The Good Shepherd is physically the gate and he lays down his life for the sheep.

So, Pastor Amanda is to give her all to the point of sacrificing her own health and well-being – because that’s what a good shepherd does and what the innocent, but clueless, sheep need.  Oh, but there’s more – she must know every one of her sheep by name and know them so well that she can meet all of their needs.  And if one of them strays from the fold, she is going to forget everything else she has to do, except of course what you still expect her to do, and successfully each time restore that lost lamb to the fold.  There will be no lost sheep in these congregations!  Oh, and not just those who belong to the fold now, but think of how many others from the hosts of unchurched sheep she will bring into the flock.  She will be all things to all sheep.  WHOA!

 

Allegory #3:  The Body of Christ

 

This is a favorite image of St. Paul’s.  The church is the body of Christ and Christ is the head of the body and when all the members of the body fulfill their function then the body moves as one in unity of purpose and mission.  Beautiful!

Each congregation is the body of Christ and the pastor is the head, so when a congregation is without a pastor, it is like a chicken with its head cut off.  No, that’s not right!  Even if it might have seemed like that at times, think of what you accomplished in only a year during the time of transition with the assistance of the Mission in Transition Team: you completed your Ministry Site Profile & self-evaluation, worship was held every Sunday, babies were baptized and the dead commended to God.

Then maybe pastor is the heart and soul of the congregation and without a pastor you’ve had no guts, no energy.  That’s not true.  Every month the Transforming Congregation team at Trinity would ask tough questions.  What more can we be doing?  How can we get more involved in community?  You accepted the risk of the filming of the movie, “Hobo Hesus.”  A person wondered how to become a deacon.  Even a handicapped building project came out from under wraps, not for division, but for action and decision.  And for many who had invested time, energy and support and for many who feared the consequences and questioned the process, it was a gut-wrenching experience.  You never lost your heart and soul.

Then maybe the pastor is the hands and feet and lips of the body.  Really?  Do you really expect Pastor Amanda to do all the work of the church now that she is here?  35 years ago when I began my first call, I was greeted by the resignation of the Sunday School superintendant and the youth group leader because they said they now they had a pastor.  Don’t do that to her!  Pastor Amanda’s arrival does not give you permission to quit, to stop functioning, as a member of the body. 

 

I think you have all followed me into the center of these allegorical mazes.  Now how do we get out?  Let’s cut a straight path out through the corn; and by “corn” I mean all my examples.

Each one of these allegories is not about the relationship of pastor and congregation.  Each one is about Jesus.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the image of Isaiah’s suffering servant.  Jesus is the one who turns the world upside down.  Jesus is the one who makes all things new.  He has turned death upside down in his resurrection, bringing life out of death.  Isaiah said, “… by his stripes we are healed.”  By Jesus’ suffering unto death on a cross we have forgiveness of our sins and freedom to live in faith and joy.  That forgiveness and freedom become the foundations upon which is forged a relationship of pastor of the flock and people of the fold.

Jesus spoke the truth (Amen, Amen) when he declared, “I am the gate.”  He is the one who sends us out with blessings and gifts to live our lives.  He is the one through whom we return for comfort, rest, and protection.  He is the one who holds the key to unlock the gates of heaven to let us pass to our eternal resurrection.  And Jesus is the Good Shepherd who knows each one of us by name and knows our every need, who seeks out the lost and finds them and brings them back on his strong shoulders.  And he is the one who by the work of the Holy Spirit, touches the hearts of those rejecting or confused and adds them to the fold.

And he does that by working through you and me; through pastor and people.  We are not just dumb sheep; we are important members of the body of Christ, each with our own skill and talent, job and function; each with our responsibility to perform the task assigned; each different, but one in mission.  So many of our congregations are handicapped by the members who don’t serve, who don’t fulfill their calling, who don’t use their gifts, like a body without legs, like a mouth without lips.  But when all work together for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the church becomes a well-functioning and finely conditioned body, the very body of Christ to the world today.

In the Bible study I lead every Thursday morning, we are working our way through St. Paul’s Letter to Romans.  In the passage Pastor Amanda chose for today, Paul links action of service by the members of the body of Christ with the spiritual gifts that empower them.  In class, first I share my fairly literal translation of the Greek text and then we explore, in our sharing and discussion, the meaning of it for each of us.

 

Romans 12:4-8

For just as in one body we have many members, but all members don’t have the same practice, just so the many are one in the body of Christ, but each a member into the other.  But having charismata according to the grace given to us differing; if prophecy according to the analogue of faith, if service in serving, if a teacher in teaching, if a proclaimer in proclamation, a contributor in liberality, and aid-giver in zeal, a mercy-giver in cheerfulness.

 

Having concluded his brilliant presentation of the theology of justification by God’s grace alone, Paul now details what it means to live faithfully in the grace.  Two expectations are clear from this passage.

1.  God does not call us to perform service without first granting us the spiritual gift to fulfill such a task.  Likewise when God gifts us, we squander that gift if we fail to use it.

2.  When we use our God-given gifts we are fulfilling our particular function as a member of the body and working for the good of the unity of the body of Christ.

 

So, listen to my loose and free translation:

You know how each person has many different parts of the body, each with it’s own function and purpose, so each of us are different parts of the one body of Christ, each contributing what we are meant to be for the good of the whole.  We each have unique and important gifts to share, so let’s use them.  If your faith directs you to discernment, then speak out as a prophet.  Perhaps serving others is your gift, then be a deacon.  Perhaps teaching others is your gift, then be a Sunday School teacher.  Perhaps your gift is preaching (Amanda), then be a pastor.  Perhaps your gift is generosity, then be a  tither.  Perhaps you are passionate about justice, then be an advocate.  Perhaps you are a person of compassion, then be a mercy-giver.

 

This is kind of like a healing service today.  A part of your body has been missing for a year: the part that we call Pastor.  Now that member is restored and called to use the unique gifts and talents with which she has been blessed.  But as true as that is for the function of pastor, so it is true for each member to remain connected to the body of Christ and to use the gifts you have been given.

It’s an allegorical corn maze out there, folks, confusing and scary.  As you work together as the body of Christ, pastor and people acknowledging Christ as your head and source of unity, you will find your way out and arrive at your promised destination.

 

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  AMEN.

 

Rev. James H. Slater

October 20, 2013